This invention relates generally to surface heaters and dryers, and more particularly, to an apparatus for melting snow and ice. The apparatus also is useful in many other applications wherein heat is required.
Many different types of apparatus are known in the prior art for removal of snow and ice from ground surfaces and the like, and various types of prior art devices or apparatus utilize heat for melting snow and ice. However, such prior art devices are not wholly satisfactory due to the complexity of construction of some such devices and the corresponding expense in manufacturing them and in operating the devices to melt snow and ice, and further, such prior art devices either are not capable of heating and drying a large enough surface area at a time or must be operated at such a slow speed as to render them impractical and unsuitable for their intended use. Still further, such prior art devices are limited for use in the environment for which they are particularly designed, and they are not suitable for use in other applications wherein heat is required.
For example, some prior art devices have chambers lined with refractory material for retaining heat, while others have relatively small discharge areas for heat, and still others utilize such elements as electric resistance means or heat lamps and the like for producing the desired heat.
These devices are limited by their construction and design as to the amount of heat they are capable of producing, and further, in some prior art devices wherein flame is applied directly to the surface to be treated, they are not suitable for use except in very limited circumstances.
The provision of some economical, reliable structure for removing snow and ice from ground surfaces is highly desirable, since methods currently used are exceedingly expensive and damaging to the environment. For example, the most commonly used method of removing snow and ice from surfaces such as roadways, parking lots, airport runways and the like is to apply salt to the surface and/or to plow the surface with large, expensive snow plows and blowers. The use of salt is not only very expensive, being in the neighborhood of about $25.00 to $30.00 per mile per application, but is also not very effective in removing snow and ice, since frequently the salt is applied during hours of darkness and substantial melting of the snow and ice does not occur until the sun shines on the surface the following day. Moreover, the salt applied to the surface is destructive to the surface itself, and results in considerable flaking and breaking up of road surfaces during the winter months, and also damages or destroys vegetation adjacent the surface, and the salt even finds its way into water supplies and the like.
Prior art devices of the type which utilize heat to melt the snow and ice are not capable of generating sufficient heat to effectively remove the snow and ice, as pointed out above, and are, therefore, not suitable for removing snow and ice from highways or airport runways and the like, where large areas must be cleaned in relatively short periods of time.
Accordingly, the application of salt to the surface and the use of snow plows and blowers are almost universally relied upon, notwithstanding the recognized drawbacks and deficiencies. For example, snow plows and blowers do not remove all of the snow and ice from a surface, and a thin layer of 1/4 to 1/2 inch or more of snow and ice is left on a surface after a snow plow or blower is used thereon.
The present invention not only solves the above problems very effectively and economically, but also solves other long standing problems in many other fields.
For example, in the construction industry, many millions of dollars and thousands of man hours have been lost, in addition to long construction delays, due to inclement weather conditions which require that construction on highways, buildings and the like be halted. As one example, in the construction of highways when asphalt is being laid the surface must be dry, and if even a small drizzle or light rain occurs and the surface is wetted, asphalt cannot be laid until the sun dries the surface. If this occurs when one or more trucks loaded with asphalt are on the way to the job site or are already at the job site, the asphalt cannot be laid on the wet surface and is generally disposed of at a great cost to the construction company, and ultimately to the public. With the present invention, the heater and dryer could be run along the surface and would thoroughly dry the surface, even during a light rain to permit the asphalt to be immediately laid down, or even in the event of a heavy rain, the dryer of the present invention could be run across the surface and would dry the surface in a matter of minutes, thereby enabling asphalt to be laid on the surface. Moreover, asphalt highways are generally constructed by first laying down a surface of asphalt and then placing oil on the surface and thereafter applying some sort of bonding material, such as sand and the like to the oil, after which another coat of blacktop or asphalt is laid. If the present invention is used, it can be run over the first layer of asphalt drawing oil to the surface and softening the first layer, thereby enabling a subsequent layer of asphalt or blacktop to be placed directly on the first layer without the use of a bonding material or the like.
Moreover, in the construction of buildings and the like, if a rain occurs access roads to the construction site become muddy and inaccessible to heavy equipment and trucks, such as concrete trucks and the like, and construction delays are experienced while waiting for the access roadways to dry. The heater and dryer according to the present invention can be driven over these access roads after heavy rainfalls and will dry and bake the access roads to a dry, hard condition in a matter of minutes, thus avoiding costly and time consuming construction delays.
Similar results can be achieved in the agricultural industry, wherein the heater and dryer according to the present invention can be run over fields to remove moisture therefrom and prepare them for harvesting of crops and the like, or the heater and dryer of the present invention can even be used to burn off weeds and insects and the like from field crops and is particularly applicable in the tobacco industry. Additionally, the present invention can be used to make fire breaks and the like.
Further, in the roofing industry construction personnel must wait until a roof surface is dry before applying various materials thereto. For example, a dew must be permitted to dry in the morning before the roof can be worked on, or in the winter months, frost, snow, rain and the like makes it impossible to work on a roof. With the present invention, a small unit can be placed on a roof and run over the surface thereof to dry frost, snow, rain, dew or the like in a matter of minutes, thus enabling construction to proceed without delay.
Still further, in citrus groves and the like crop growers use smudge pots and the like to warm the temperature of the air to prevent freezing and damaging of crops, and these smudge pots are only partially effective, whereas with the present invention a heater and dryer can be run up and down the rows of citrus trees or the like, discharging heated air and thereby effectively warming the atmosphere to prevent damage to the crops.
Still further, blacktop roads experience what is known as dry rot, wherein the oil in the material of the road settles and the surface becomes crumbly and dry. A heater and dryer in accordance with the present invention can be run over such blacktop roads, and the heat will bring the oil back to the surface and restore the roadway to a like new condition.
Similar results are obtained on concrete airport runways having expansion joints therein. Such runways in the past have been subject to damage due to moisture entering the expansion joints and then freezing and forcing the tar and the like in the joints to the surface where it is broken up, and large amounts of money must be expended to restore or replace these expansion joints. With the present invention the heater and dryer can be run across such runways, particularly at the expansion joints, and the temperature or heat will soften the tar in the expansion joints and cause it to flow into the joints, restoring them to a condition at least as good as new, and in some cases even better than the joints as originally applied.
Other uses of the invention are in sports, wherein the heater and dryer could be run over playing fields to dry them and prepare them for the performance of an athletic event thereon, or on race tracks, whether they be for horse racing or automobile racing, to dry and prepare the surface.
In use, the device of the present invention not only melts the snow and ice, but evaporates the moisture, leaving the surface dry. This result also makes the device very effective in evaporating moisture and drying the surface after a rainfall, or where the surface has been wetted due to other causes.
Also, the design of the device is such that heated saturated air is discharged, thus utilizing the device with maximum efficiency. Further, a suitable hydrocarbon fuel is used in the device, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, propane or butane, and the like. In a preferred embodiment, propane is used.
Accordingly, the present invention not only has great utility as a snow melter and dryer, wherein savings of up to 99% can be realized, but also has great usefulness in many other applications, such as those enumerated above.